The Last Wolf

Beyond the historical context of wolves being hunted to near-extinction, wolves have a spiritual symbolism in TallMountain’s poem and in many various indigenous beliefs. According to Welford’s 1994 article, TallMountain spoke with Bill Moyers about the “wolf spirit” that inspires her poetry. In “The Last Wolf,” this spirit has a “mystery of his wild loping gait” (Line 12): The wolf is a symbol of wildness. Knowing that this is the “last” (Line 1) wolf in existence imbues the poem with a profound sense of loss and grief.

Wolves have also been described as symbols of destruction, which develops TallMountain’s theme of the destruction of modern society. How wise, then, of TallMountain to select a symbol of both the wild world beyond civilization and one embodying the concept of destruction. The poem would read in a decidedly different manner if she had chosen a different animal, such as a bear or even a coyote, which is similar to but not the same as a wolf.

There is a strong color motif running throughout “The Last Wolf.” The mechanical, artificial colors of the traffic lights—"red and green” (Line 9)—are contrasted with the natural colors of the wolf—his “gray muzzle” (Line 23) and “yellow” eyes (Line 25).